Author's Note: I know, I know. It's been a bit longer than usual since I last updated. Had a lot of things happen at once, not giving me a lot of free time. In short, job hunting sucks.
Review Props: Tader, Ensign Cole, WantFanFics
Tim made it a point to head to work earlier than usual so he would arrive before Tony and Ziva. He was a firm believer of the saying 'a good defense begins with a good offense', especially when it came to those two tag-teaming him. And without a case, Gibbs might just let those two have at him. It wasn't often that any of them had an honest romantic interest and Gibbs had a twisted sense of humor when he was willing to show it.
He wasn't surprised to see that the lamp at Gibbs' desk was lit up when he arrived at the Yard, nor at the sight of files laid out on his, Tony's, and Ziva's desks. It was obviously a Cold Case day and possible cases to go over had been picked out for all of them. Tim picked up the top file on his desk as he settled onto his chair and flipped it open to review its contents.
"You're in early." Tim looked up, barely restraining a startled reaction at Gibbs' sudden appearance.
"I figured that if I could get working before Tony and Ziva arrive, it would be easier for me to ward off their questions by claiming to be busy." Tim explained with a meek expression.
"Ah. That's right. You had a date with Dr. Brant yesterday." Gibbs let out a small smirk over the rim of his coffee cup before taking a sip, sitting down at his own desk. It was the knowing smirk of a man who had a lot of experience in going on dates with red heads and was getting enjoyment in seeing another man willingly tackle the challenge.
"It went well." Tim supplied, answering the question he knew Gibbs would never ask. Gibbs simply waited for them to share whatever they were willing to share whenever they were willing to share it when it came to their personal lives. "We haven't picked a day, yet, but Evelyn did agree to another date."
"Good for you, McGee." The smirk slipped away as Gibbs congratulated his junior field agent. "Just don't get married, unless you want to pay alimony."
"I don't think that's going to happen any time soon, Boss. My mother would kill me if I ran off and got married without giving her the chance to attend her first baby's wedding." Tim managed to say through subdued laughter at Gibbs' usual dating advice. He could just see it now. Him calling home from the honeymoon suite to tell his parents they now had a daughter-in-law and his mother finally doing what millions of others wished they could. Going through the phone line to kill someone.
"True." Gibbs relented, not saying anything else on the topic. It was slightly odd for Tim to not have to continue on explaining himself or what he said. He didn't spend that much one-on-one time with Gibbs, now that he thought about it, and made a mental note to address that later.
"I think I'll just focus on figuring out how to introduce Evelyn to Sarah without inadvertently sparking a 'Pick on Tim' marathon. At least Sarah doesn't have pictures." Tim added, just to get rid of that weird feeling in his stomach from not being pushed for more information, and turned his attention back to the file he was holding. Tim recognized it, it had made its rounds through the various desks of agents here at the Yard, but it was the first time he was the primary agent on it. Hopefully he could provide a view point that others didn't and find something they missed. Turning on his computer on autopilot, Tim put all his focus onto working on the cold case.
Tim's hands froze over his keyboard when the window he was typing in suddenly became blocked by a new window.
[Little Debbie] Hey, you on?
Tim's eyes immediately went for his computer's clock to see if he had time to take a break and he was shocked to find out that it was nearly noon. Tony and Ziva had actually left him alone. That didn't mean he was safe from being interrogated, not by a long shot, but it meant he had a chance of keeping them away at least until after work. Figuring he had more than enough time for a break, Tim moved his cursor to the IM window with a quick flick of his wrist.
[Elf Lord] I'm nearing my lunch break. Cold case work day. What's up?
[Little Debbie] I am currently hiding from Paul. He wasn't at all happy to find out that I don't actually have a stalker.
[Elf Lord] You told him?
[Little Debbie] No. A coworker did. I didn't hesitate to tell him that I had a lot more fun after I left than I did while I was with him, but then I ran and now I'm hiding. I don't want him dampening my mood for the entire day.
Tim rose an eyebrow at Evelyn's description of her situation.
[Elf Lord] I take it that you're in a good mood, then?
[Little Debbie] Definitely. I came in to work a bit early this morning so I could put up my air brushed artwork in my office. It looks so nice behind my desk. I think I may consider switching to psychology full time just so I can look at it more often.
Tim knew Evelyn was joking about turning psychologist full time, but that didn't stop him from laughing out loud at the absurdity of the idea. He paused when his actions registered in his head and looked around, a bit embarrassed. Gibbs wasn't even in the Bull Pen, and Tony and Ziva made no show of reaction to his laughter. Glad he wasn't going to be questioned on his actions at the moment, Tim turned back to his computer.
[Elf Lord] You'd get bored. Don't deny it.
[Little Debbie] Oh, you don't need to tell me that. I love fooling around with computers too much. That isn't going to stop me from daydreaming of a permanent work space all my own.
[Elf Lord] But you already have an office...
[Little Debbie] Trust me. It just isn't the same when it's not a full time job. Surely you remember what it's like, from Norfolk. Having an office all your own that you could escape to whenever you wanted.
[Elf Lord] I didn't have an office at Norfolk. I had an oversized filing cabinet with a phone line and internet access.
[Little Debbie] Pity.
That single word answer told Tim that the red head on the other end of the conversation was smirking at her computer in amusement. Rolling his eyes, Tim barely restrained himself from sticking his tongue out at his own computer screen.
[Elf Lord] Bite me.
[Little Debbie] Where, when, and how hard would you like me to? I'm open to suggestions.
[Elf Lord] Hey! Don't forget which of us is the one carrying handcuffs.
[Little Debbie] Don't make promises you won't be willing to keep.
Tim's jaw went slack as he lost that round of bickering as quickly as it had started. He was grateful that Abby and Tony had long since made him immune to innuendo. His face would surely be a deep crimson in response to Evelyn's winning statement if they hadn't. Swallowing hard, Tim adjusted his posture before replying.
[Elf Lord] Alright, then I won't. If you're busy hiding then how are you working?
[Little Debbie] Nice redirect. It's actually pretty easy to hide from Paul. He doesn't know where my office is. The man is arrogant enough that he never bothered to learn.
[Elf Lord] Then you're not actually hiding. You're simply working.
[Little Debbie] ...party pooper. It sounds more fun when I say I'm hiding. But I guess you could say that. I've been going over code without interruption since I left Paul fuming in the lobby. It's actually been pretty nice.
[Elf Lord] I've been safe from Tony and Ziva, myself. They haven't said a word to me all day. I couldn't tell you if Gibbs shot them any looks when they arrived because I wasn't paying attention, but it's been a luxury being able to work in peace.
[Little Debbie] Nice. Though you don't honestly think they'll leave you alone forever, do you?
[Elf Lord] Nope. But I'll take what I can get when it comes to those two.
[Little Debbie] You could run away. Disappear for a weekend. Get in the car and start driving without looking back.
Tim snorted in amusement. If only it were that easy. If it were, he would do it in an instant. Though he wouldn't be against kidnapping Evelyn and bringing her with if it was an option.
[Elf Lord] Which would work...if I didn't work with professional investigators. They'd make easy work of finding me.
[Little Debbie] Then I laugh at your misery and general irritations.
[Elf Lord] Remind me to never leave you alone with my little sister. Ever.
[Little Debbie] Sure. Take all my fun away. Speaking of fun, though, have you put any thought on a date for our next, well, date?
Tim smiled at his computer screen, his hands paused over his keyboard as he thought over what to say next.
"What are you smiling at, McOccupied?" Tim groaned loudly as he dropped his hands to his lap. He was so close. So close to going a full morning without being questioned.
"Nothing, Tony. What do you want?" Tim glared at his partner, ignoring the innocent expression Tony was giving him.
"I just wanted to know how the date went last night." Tony's words gained Ziva's attention, who immediately looked up from her work with an interested look.
"It was fine." Tim answered, quickly typing out an answer for Evelyn.
[Elf Lord] I have next weekend off. We're technically on call, so none of us can do any crazy partying or drinking, but that leaves loads of options open. Perhaps a day or two of getting lost in the tourist traps of D.C.?
"What happened? Your lack of details says something happened." Ziva prodded.
"Zee-va is right, McAvoidance. What happened?" Tony repeated, joining the Israeli in tag teaming Tim.
[Little Debbie] That's great! I'm not scheduled for next weekend, so I can easily spend a couple days playing tourist. Sounds like a lot of fun.
"Ate dinner, embarrassed myself, got our geeks on. You know, the usual." Tim answered, raising an eyebrow at his coworkers as if to ask if they honestly thought they were going to get more out of him.
"Oh, don't lie to your partners, McGee." Came in an unexpected voice. Tim let out another groan, quieter than before, hanging his head. "You also brought the lovely lady to the shooting range."
"Thank you, Erikson, for sharing." Tim turned to the grinning man with a look of irritation.
"No problem! I just came by to see how the rest of your date went after I ran into you. Please tell me you at least got a good bye kiss out of that fine little vixen." Erikson continued. "I'd ask if your date continued back at her apartment for some more fun, if you know what I mean, but this is you I'm talking to. You are too gentleman-like to do that on the first date."
"I did with Abby." Tim shot back, both to save his dignity and to get Erikson's focus off Evelyn.
"Wow! So you are capable of being sleazy. I didn't know that was possible." Erikson snorted. Tim rolled his eyes, returning his attention to his computer for a few quick moments.
[Elf Lord] Then it's settled. Next weekend, we go annoy the employees at all the tourist traps.
[Little Debbie] Awesome.
"You'd be surprised what I'm capable of, Erikson." Tim said, looking back up at him. "Everyone seems to underestimate me."
"You're avoiding our questions." Tony whined, pushing himself on his chair from his desk to Tim's. "What are you typing, anyway?"
[Little Debbie] Damn it, Paul found my office. I'll talk to you later.
[Elf Lord] Alright. Talk to you later. Good luck finding a new hiding spot.
[Little Debbie is offline]
Tim quickly closed the chat window before Tony could read anything.
"What I'm typing is none of your business." Tim chided Tony, turning his whole body to face the man.
"Come on. Tell!"
"No." Tim pushed Tony away, making him roll back towards his own desk.
"So, did you get a kiss in or not?" Erikson repeated his question.
"Erikson..." Tim started, giving the man a placating smile. "Kiss my ass and go back to your own desk. I won't be fodder for scuttlebutt."
"Fine. But we'll get the details eventually." Erikson smirked, sending a conspiring wink towards Tony and Ziva before walking away. Rolling his eyes, Tim closed the windows on his computer and set the machine to sleep before getting up and collecting his things from his desk drawer.
"So you took Dr. Brant to the shooting range? How did she do?" Ziva shot up from her seat and came close to Tim, trying the pseudo intimidation option of getting information from him.
"Fine. Yes, I took her to the shooting range. She did fairly well, for a beginner." Tim sighed, heading for the elevator. Ziva and Tony both followed closely behind, shooting off questions.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"How well is fairly well?"
"It's noon. I'm taking my lunch break." Tim answered Tony, deciding it was the lesser of two evils. He pushed the down button for the elevator before turning around to face his partners. "Guys, you two pushed me into asking Evelyn out on a date. We went on a date. What more do you want?"
"Details!" Came in stereo. Hearing the elevator open up behind him, Tim took a step backwards and pushed the button for the bottom floor.
"I don't kiss and tell, guys..."
"So you did kiss her!" Tony exclaimed. Tim gave his partners a smirk before the elevator doors closed in front of them, cutting off their questioning with a satisfying thunk.